Related Papers
IAPT Conference Series
ADAM STRECK Practical Theology and Decoloniality in Brazil reflections on a method in process
2021 •
Julio Cezar Adam
If we understand practical theology in Latin America to be the theoretical reflection of religious praxis from the paradigm of decoloniality, what would its method be? Practical theology’s method in Latin America has been in close dialogue with liberation theology and its see-judge-act method. This means that doing practical theology in this context has always been strongly related to the practice of exclusion and socio-political vulnerability. All theology was seen as a second action, since practice and life, in the context of the poor, was the locus theologicus par excellence. What does this mean from a decolonial perspective? From a decolonial perspective, would the seejudge-method be the most appropriate? To what extent would the perception of reality be influenced by this paradigm? To what extent would judging from scripture and theological tradition be a way of reinforcing a certain form of coloniality? Likewise, to what extent would action, as religious practice (the ministry of religious forms in the context of culture and society) express decoloniality? On the other hand, Latin America has contributed on an international scale, to research practices in human and social sciences, such as such as Participatory Research (Carlos Rodrigues Brandão and Paulo Freire) and Participatory Action Research (Orlando Fals Borda). This paper therefore problematizes the question: which method would best serve practical theology in Latin America from a decolonial perspective?
Decoloniality: Theory and Methodology
2019 •
Claudio Carvalhaes
The author describes the work of decoloniality whithin Christianity and proposes a methodology for this process, naming the work of anthropophagy, perspectivism, carnival and social movements from Latin America. To take on the theological decoloniality option, one needs to re-considere the sources and foundations of an universal Christianity and re-read it from local communities, its instances of power, presences and absences. Influenced by the indigenous poeple of Rio Grande do Sul and the Xingu, Indigenous epistemologies, we are call to dream not only about ourselves, but also dream of animals, mountains, soil, water, seeds, nature. s
Decoloniality and Liberating Hope at the Border
2021 •
Susanne Johnson
This paper is a practical theological inquiry into the liturgical practice and popular visual art used in the trans-border ecclesial community known as the El Faro Border Church situated on the U.S.–Mexico border in California, whereby participants imagine and perform a decolonial counter-narrative, and resist false claims of the ‘imagined community’ known as the territorial nation-state, especially as imposed by life-diminishing border policies.
Liberating Congregational Singing: A Critical Engagement with Hymns, Songs, and Congregational Singing Practices Using Postcolonial, Decolonial, and Liberating Perspectives
2019 •
Becca Whitla
Sentipensando Latina/o/x Theoethics
2021 •
Nestor Medina
Taking the work of decolonial scholar Arturo Escobar, this article explores the notion of sentipensar (lit. thinking-feeling) and its possible intersections and implications for Latina/o/x theoethics. The concept sentipensar signals a different type of rationality by which people are able to account for their immediate environment, history, and identity. LatinaXo theoethics embodies its own kind of decolonial sentipensar beyond inherited Eurocentric intellectual frames. LatinaXo scholars ground theoethics in their daily experience of Lo cotidiano, by anchoring their construction of knowledge on Lo cultural, and by uncovering the violence of empire and colonization in their own ethno-bio-cultural mestizaje.
International Journal of Practical Theology
Practical Theology in Brazil and Latin America Today: An Attempt to Report
2019 •
Julio Cezar Adam
This text attempts to report on the development of practical theology in the context of Brazil and Latin America. It presents the difficulty of constructing such an account. The article is organized into four parts: 1) a brief description of the Latin American context; 2) the permanent challenge of conceptualizing Practical Theology as a theological discipline; 3) relevant developments of the discipline ; 4) current and future challenges for practical theology in this reality. Zusammenfassung: Dieser Aufsatz berichtet von der Entwicklung Praktischer Theologie im brasilianischen und im weiteren lateinamerikanischen Kontext. Er macht zunächst die Schwierigkeit kenntlich, einen solchen Bericht zu erstatten. Die anschließenden Ausführungen gliedern sich in vier Abschnitte: 1) eine knappe Be-schreibung des lateinamerikanischen Kontextes, 2) die dauerhafte Herausforder-ung, Praktische Theologie als eine theologische Disziplin zu entwerfen; 3) einschlä-gige Entwicklungen innerhalb der Praktischen Theologie; 4) aktuelle und zukünf-tige Herausforderungen an die Praktische Theologie unter diesen Bedingungen.
Reforming practical theology: The politics of body and space
The space of practical theology at Faculdades EST in Brazil and its contribution to Latin American theological practices
2019 •
Julio Cezar Adam
Since the nineteenth century, the churches of the Reformation have had a prominent place in Latin America. The reflection on and development of a pastoral, and later, of a contextualized practical theology has become a reality. The goal of this chapter is to study how practical theology is constituted from a practical and theoretical standpoint in one theological school, in this case the School of Theology at Faculdades EST in southern Brazil. First, it addresses how, in the beginning, the school’s emphasis was on the education of the pastors for the development of parishes. Later, this emphasis shifted to a theological praxis for peace and social justice motivated by Latin American liberation theology in the church as part of a renewed search for its identity. With the implementation of the Graduate School of Theology, the discipline of practical theology, together with its sub-disciplines, has tried to assert its own identity in critical dialogue with the demands of a changing social, cultural and political context, religious diversity and issues of gender, corporeity and research in partnership with other areas of knowledge. The publication of a compendium of practical theology at the end of the 1990s points to this new stage. The present challenge is to understand the perspectives for practical theology in this concrete space, while also considering the current situation of global and local political changes, to effectively respond to the social and ecclesiastical challenges.
Verbum et Ecclesia
Pentecostalism and heteronormative God-talk in modern South Africa: A decolonial approach
Themba Shingange
This article reflects on the use of heteronormative God-talk within African Pentecostalism in modern South Africa. God-talk has often been used as a tool to push specific socio-political ideologies within the global community and in discourses about gender and sexuality. In Africa, these discourses are often characterised by debates and influenced by normative, moral religious and Christian views. Research indicates that African Pentecostalism is one of the fastest-growing Christian movements in the world and it has great influence on sexual moral discourses. The advent of neo-Pentecostalism in South Africa was marked with the abuse of God-talk. Different media platforms reported on the commercialisation and abuse of religion as Pentecostal prophets used God-talk often disguised as prophecy to perform unusual practices and to make religious remarks regarding gender identities and sexualities. This forced and reinforced the hegemony of heterosexuality in society. Therefore, the decol...
World Christianity
Decoloniality and Interculturality in World Christianity: A Latin American Perspective
2020 •
Raimundo C Barreto
Missionalia
The Prosperity Gospel, the decolonisation of Theology, and the abduction of missionary imagination
2017 •
Nelus Niemandt
This research focussed on one of the most important social movements and contex-tual challenges in the African context – the explosive growth of the 'prosperity gospel' in Africa. It investigated this phenomenon from a missiological and African perspective , but in close relation to the discourses on decoloniality and decolonialisation, and asked if the prosperity gospel is a new form of colonialization. The research attended to the historical roots and theology of the prosperity gospel. It identified the core issue as one of contextualisation and investigated the prosperity gospel from a 'glocal' perspective. This brought the relationship between the prosperity gospel and globalisation (global) as well as local economic realities into the equation. Conclusions were made regarding the complex question whether the prosperity gospel can be regarded as a form of colonialization. The research found that the underlying epistemology is more oriented towards buttressing the worldview of global capitalism than deconstructing the political, social, and cultural domination established by Europeans and their Euro-North American descendants. It also concluded that the prosperity gospel is a spiritualisation of materiality and celebration of classic symbols of surplus/excess and consumerism. However, when attention was paid to local narratives and theologies, it became apparent that some prosperity churches have a strong focus on local communities and marginalised people and that leaders assisted in liberating empowering of members. The research concluded that this phenomenon might just lead to a particular form of African Pentecostalism that will, by itself, deconstruct coloniality and add exciting dimensions to the debate.
